Hunter
by Alya Serce
Summary: Takes place two years after the end of Titan's Curse. He loves her. She knows it. Can he change the mind and the vows of a Hunter? ThaliaLuke. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Takes place two years after book 3 (Titan's Curse)

I will update if you review (and I hope you do, because I'm liking this right now)

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"Luke, we've caught another one of the Hunters." The thirteen-year-old boy said, entering Luke's room, shaking water out of his black hair. "She's downstairs in the dungeons. The Master wants you to take care of her."  
"Not now, Nico. Do you know her name?"  
"Thalia."  
Luke's heart broke as he heard the name. It was just as he feared. Two minutes, five minutes went by before he replied. It didn't feel like five minutes. It felt like an eternity. He ran his hand through his blonde hair in frustration.  
"Tell the master that someone else has to do it. I can't take this one." His vision swam as his blue eyes filled to the brim with tears. Thalia. She had tried to kill him, hadn't she? She had succeeded, actually. His soldiers had offered all they had to Hades for him back, and he had agreed to a seat of power in Kronos' new reign after the war. Thalia had killed him, why couldn't he kill her.  
Another few minutes passed before he heard an angry roar from down the hall. "LUKE! YOU KILL THAT HUNTRESS NOW!"  
He summoned all his strength and stood up, walking to the doorway of the dungeon. _Here goes nothing_, he thought. But something changed his mind.  
"No." it was barely even a whisper, but the Master heard it anyway.  
"WHAT?"  
"Ma ton Di'a ou toi'nun (Not by Zeus). I will not kill her." He felt himself being grabbed from behind as the Master roared even louder at the name of the great god.  
"GET HIM!"  
He turned on his capturer – a half-blood daughter of Ares. "Melena, no…" He started, but she pulled out her sword and stabbed him in the ribcage. He staggered and fell to the ground, pulling out his dagger and stabbing at her chest with it as he fell. The dagger hit against her armor and bounced off, not affecting her in the least. She grabbed him by his hair and lifted him up, opening the door to the dungeon and throwing him down the long, stone staircase.  
"Ô sunte'leia (Oh ye gods)," he begged just before blacking out. "Forgive me."

Thalia slowly opened her eyes, trying to let them adjust to the darkness. "Who's there?" she called out, hoarsely. She struggled against her handcuffs, trying to break free.  
There was a groan from a figure on the ground. In what little light there was, she could see blood pooling from its body.  
"Who are you?" She asked.  
"Th-Thalia?" It rolled over and she could see its face clearly. Luke.  
"You bastard. Es Hai'dou bas'ke (go to hell)."  
"No… Thalia, you don't understand." He grunted in pain, putting his hand to his ribcage, trying to stop the bleeding.  
"You already tricked Annabeth. You're not getting to me to."  
He grimaced in pain. "They're coming for you. You have to get out of here, now!" He drew his sword and shattered her handcuffs. "Pros Theôn' ... go!"  
"You… theon?"  
"I've repented. I don't know if they'll forgive me, but I hope you will. Now go!" He was obviously struggling to speak. "Fourth stone up from the mouse hole is loose. There's a door behind it that leads outside."  
She didn't trust him, but tried the stone anyway. It pulled free, and the door swung open to reveal Times Square.  
She turned back to him. "Luke, we need to get you out of here. If you've really done hat you said, they're going to kill you. You're already dying."  
He was unconscious.  
She lifted him up over one shoulder, silently thanking Artemis for her Hunter's strength, and carried him out through the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Short chapter, only because I haven't had time to write much - but the next chapter will (hopefully) be longer.

Thank you so much to my (one) reviewer: Phyco Girl - I greatly appreciate all of your feedback!

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"Where are we?" He asked, finally coming around. Around him he could just barely make out the shape of trees above him, and the vague outline of a girl.

"Shh. You need to save your strength. You're very badly wounded. I've cleaned and bound the cut, but you'll be pretty weak for a day or so. We're going to stay here until you're better, but then I'll have to leave you. I've called Artemis, and she's going to pick me up here in three days time, whether you're better or not. Drink some water." She handed him a bottle of water. "You need to rest."

"Thalia, I need to say something."

"You need to rest, Luke. We can talk in the morning."

It was only after she had said this that he realized it was dark. Nighttime.

"You should rest, to, Thalia. Did you carry me all the way here?"

"I have no need to rest."

She held out her hand and put pressure onto his shoulder, forcing him to lay back down.

"Sleep, Luke."

And he did. 


	3. Chapter 3

I would like to thank everyone who had reviewed my story so far - Phyco girl, Waiting.2.Be.Discovered, Karen Griffin, DuchessOfPhilly, and Tigger66. Thanks you guys for all of your support and constructive critisism - I really appreciate it.

Sorry about the long wait before this chapter - I was away for a few weeks without access to my computer, so I couldn't update, but I'm back for a while now, and hopefully (if all goes well), the next chapter will be up in not too long.

Please continue to read and review, please! And if the plot goes as planned, either next chapter or the one after it will have a poll so you can vote on what happens later in the story because I'm tired of drawing out of a hat. (haha that was a joke.)

So without and further ado, here's chapter 3:

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With morning came the sun, and with it came Apollo. 

"Heya Hunter," He greeted Thalia, who sat with her back against a tree, watching Luke sleep.

"Hello, Apollo." She obviously didn't want to have a conversation with the Sun God at this point.

"My sister sent me to check on you. She was worried sick – didn't even have the heart to get mad at me! I even wrote a haiku about it!"

Thalia groaned.

"_Artemis is scared  
For her Hunter Thalia.  
I am so awesome_."

Neither of them said anything for a minute.

"Brilliant, isn't it?" He asked.

_You really need to go somewhere other than Japan_, Thalia wanted to say, but before she got the chance to answer, Luke opened his eyes and sat up.

"'Morning," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"I have to go now, Thalia. Artemis sends her best." And with that, Apollo disappeared.

"Who was that?" Luke asked.

"Apollo."

"Apollo was here? Why?"

"Artemis sent him to check up on me. I only have two days before I leave you to go back to the Hunters, so I need to see if you can walk now."

She stood up and held out her hand to help him up. He stood up fine and, still holding her hand for support, walked a few steps more, but only a few before he stumbled and put his other hand to his ribcage, doubling over in pain. He was breathing heavily, but Thalia remained calm.

"Sit down," she instructed, and he did as she said. "I hope you will be healed by the time Artemis and the Hunters come for me. They will have no mercy for you and you will be left here on your own. We can only hope that you can take care of yourself by then."


	4. Chapter 4

Again, I would like to thank my chapter 3 reviewers - bloomingauthor7, DuchessofPhilly, and Ocean of Dreams - you guys rock!

So here's chapter four. It's short, but I make up for that because I'm posting chapter five immediately after.

And there will be a poll with the next chapter.

Please review!

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"Easy, that's it… watch out for that branch… almost… be careful, Luke!"

He stumbled slightly, and Thalia caught him in her arms. His blue eyes met hers and he held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity before she finally broke away and eased him down to the ground.

"You can almost walk now," she told him, avoiding his eyes, looking anywhere but at him. "I'm leaving tomorrow. You should be healed completely by then, and then you can make your way to Half-Blood Hill. I've sent a message saying that you're coming and they know to let you in."

"Thanks, Thalia. For everything. You didn't have to save me back there. I really didn't think you would." He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back so she turned towards him. "There's… there's something I want… there's something I need to tell you."

"I have to go find food, Luke. We can talk later. Or would you rather starve?" she pulled her hand away from his and walked off into the woods, leaving him alone.

Luke ran a hand through his blonde hair, frustrated. _Just spit it out already_, he told himself angrily._ Are you too chicken to tell her? Stop stalling and tell her already. _

_She doesn't want to know,_ something in the back of his mind chimed in. _Because she doesn't care about you anymore. Not like she used to._

_Shut up!_ He told the something. _I don't care if she wants to know. She has to know. I have to tell her._

It was almost an hour before Thalia came back, and Luke knew that he had to tell her now.

"Thalia, can I talk to you?" he asked, trying to stand up. He put all his weight against the tree behind him and lifted himself up, ignoring the excruciating pain in his side. He fell anyway, fell to his knees. The pain was too much.

"Not now, Luke. I'm going to go get some firewood, so I can cook something for dinner. You're obviously still hurt. Food will help." She started to walk away again

"Damnit, Thalia! I'm sick of your stalling. Are you so afraid of what I've got to tell you?"

She froze in mid-step and turned back to look at him, dreading what would come next.

"I love you." 


	5. Chapter 5

Well, here's chapter 5. I have no reviewers yet to thank, so I'll do chapter 4 and 5 reviewers next chapter.

Enjoy! And review to vote on the poll at the end.

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Thalia had known what was coming. She knew exactly what he had been trying to tell her the whole time. And she thought that if she didn't let him say the words – those three damned words that she had been so afraid of – she could save herself.

Of course, as soon as he'd said it, she knew she couldn't resist anymore. Because this was what she had been waiting for, ever since she met Luke when she was young, on her first day at Camp Half Blood. This was what she had given up.

Her Hunter powers had been waning ever since she first saw his face in the dungeon three days ago – pale bloody and dirty, but still his face. It was as if Artemis knew what was happening, and wanted to prepare her beloved Hunter, to make the loss easier.

Thalia dropped to her knees as he said it, cursing the gods for her fate.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that, Luke," she sighed. It was barely a whisper, but he heard her.

He put his hands on either side of her face, pulled her closer, and kissed her. She didn't resist at all.

It was gentle, the first time he kissed her, as if he thought she was fragile. As if she might break. She collapsed into his arms, weak, all of her Hunter's strength leaving her.

_I'm sorry, Artemis_, Thalia thought. _But this life just isn't for everyone. And it isn't for me_.

And then she kissed him back, hungrily, passionately. Everything she had felt for him, for however many years, she put into one kiss. He explored her mouth with his tongue, practically unable to stop.

There, under the cover of the trees, kneeling on the hard, packed, dirt ground, Thalia gave up what she had worked so hard at for three years. She gave up her Hunter's strength and power with just one kiss.

Artemis came the next morning, just as she had promised – after three days of waiting, worriedly, she came to retrieve her Hunter. It must've been quite a shock for the maiden goddess to find her beloved Hunter sleeping in the arms of Kronos' lackey.

Thalia hated seeing the look of disappointment written across the goddess' face as she woke.

"Artemis, I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry. You will regret it plenty later."

And with that, Thalia's former master was gone.

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**Poll:**

**So, Luke...?**

_(option 1)_ - Is only doing this as a plan for Kronos to make Thalia not a Hunter anymore, and he's going to turn her in as soon as he's better (very angsty with lots of fighting and blood, and probably more realistic)

_(option 2)_ - Really loves Thalia, has truthfully turned good, and now they'll run away to Camp Half Blood together (sappy, sweet, fluffy, shipper-y, but still a little fighting and blood)

I like both of these options, but I can't decide. I like the first one because I love angst, but I love the couple so much, I can't bear to have him hurt her again, so it's all up to you!


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